Media Release |
Jan. 31, 2005
UBC Receives $8 Million to Launch Biodiversity Research
Centre
A Vancouver couple who are University of British Columbia
alumni have donated $8 million toward a biodiversity research
centre that will include a museum of natural history that
is unique in Canada.
Ross Beaty, a 53-year-old geologist and mining entrepreneur,
is chairman of Pan American Silver Corp., one of the world’s
leading primary silver producers. At UBC he earned a bachelor
of science honours degree in 1974 and a law degree in 1979.
His wife, Trisha, is a local physician who majored in zoology
and obtained a medical degree from UBC in 1979.
“The Beatys’ very generous gift will strengthen
UBC’s research excellence in the area of biodiversity
and enable the whole community to share this couple’s
enthusiastic appreciation and deep concern for the natural
world,” says UBC President Martha Piper. “Research
at the new centre will be reflected in museum exhibits and
educational programs designed to help people make informed
decisions about the environmental challenges that confront
us.”
The Beaty Biodiversity Research Centre, a $50-million project
that will include the Beaty Museum of Natural History, will
house more than 30 UBC scientists in disciplines ranging from
genomics to oceanography.
The five-storey 12,600 sq.-metre centre is expected to open
in November 2007. The museum will be the only natural history
museum in Canada to be integrated with a major research centre.
“We hope that this new facility at UBC will enrich
society locally, nationally and globally,” says Beaty,
who was also instrumental in creating the Pacific Museum of
the Earth at UBC. “The museum and centre will help teach
existing and future generations the importance of maintaining
healthy and diverse ecosystems.”
Biodiversity is the study of all life’s variety, from
single genes to entire ecosystems. Researchers at the centre
will study the origin and maintenance of biodiversity and
how factors such as climate change, species decline, and other
human disturbance affect ecosystems.
In addition, investigators will assess Western Canada’s
biodiversity and identify vulnerable species and areas for
preservation as well as provide expert guidance on biodiversity
and conservation issues. There will also be training for researchers
and educators and public education programs.
“This new facility will enable researchers to perform
their cutting-edge work right here in British Columbia, and
is an impressive example of the type of partnerships that
are essential to ensure Canada’s success in the knowledge-based
economy," said Dr. Eliot Phillipson, President and CEO
of the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), which provided
major funding for the centre.
The museum will showcase a collection that includes more
than 17,000 mammal specimens as well as Western Canada’s
largest collection of insects -- more than 600,000 specimens.
UBC also has the second largest fish collection in Canada
with more than 800,000 specimens. In addition, plant, moss,
algae, seaweed and fungus collections will be featured. Specimens
are currently housed in a variety of locations that are outdated
and virtually inaccessible to the public.
“It is especially fitting that this centre be located
here in B.C. which has the country’s greatest share
of biodiversity,” says zoology professor Dolph Schluter,
Canada Research Chair (CRC) in evolutionary biology, who will
direct the new centre. “The museum and centre will allow
us to expand and revitalize our collection, offer research
and teaching support and help us attract top biodiversity
researchers to UBC.”
CFI is an independent corporation established by the Government
of Canada in 1997 to strengthen the capability of Canadian
universities, colleges, research hospitals, and other not-for-profit
institutions to carry out world-class research and technology
development.
The CRC program, designed to build Canada’s research
capacity, represents a Government of Canada investment of
$900 million to establish 2,000 research professorships in
universities across the country.
NB: Editors: Images of the Beatys are available electronically.
A backgrounder on the donors is attached.
Biographical Information
Ross Beaty
UBC alumnus Ross J. Beaty founded Pan American Silver Corp.,
one of the world's leading primary silver producers, in 1994
and currently serves as Chairman.
A geologist with more than 30 years of experience in the
international minerals industry, Mr. Beaty has founded, built
and sold three other public mineral resource companies since
1985. He is a past President and current member of the Executive
Committee of the Silver Institute in Washington, DC. He is
also a founder of the Pacific Mineral Museum in British Columbia.
Mr. Beaty is a Fellow of the Geological Association of Canada
and the Canadian Institute of Mining, and is a recipient of
the Institute's Past Presidents’ Memorial Medal.
Mr. Beaty was born in Vancouver, Canada in 1951 and educated
at the Royal School of Mines, University of London, England,
M.Sc., Distinction (Mineral Exploration) 1975 and the University
of British Columbia, LL.B. (Law) 1979 and B.Sc. (Honours Geology)
1974.
He is married to UBC alumna and physician Trisha Beaty and
they have five children. Mr. Beaty speaks English, French
and Spanish as well as some Russian, German and Italian, and
has worked in more than 45 countries during his career.
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